Month: March 2018

by Frieda Klotz Genetic profiling could help determine whether an embryo created through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) is likely to successfully transfer to the womb, increasing the success rate of the procedure. It’s part of a field of work looking at the role of genetics in fertility. ‘Understanding why some people do not have children, and … Read more

The structure of the EU’s next research funding programme is based on the mantra of ‘evolution, not revolution’ and so will not contain any major surprises, according to Jean-Eric Paquet, the EU’s recently appointed director-general for research and innovation, who takes up his new role on 3 April. You previously worked in the team of … Read more

by Gareth Willmer You could call it fatal attraction. Drawn by artificial lights in our brightening night-time world, animals find their lives in peril. Fledgling birds disorientated by lights can collide with human structures on the ground and then get hit by cars, or become more vulnerable to predation, starvation or dehydration. Or newly hatched … Read more

by Ethan Bilby The act of confronting a troublesome past can be challenging by itself, and the Germans even have a word for it – Vergangenheitsbewältigung. Roughly one-third of current EU Member States spent decades behind the Iron Curtain, and many experienced one-party government for decades, but researchers see confronting uncomfortable history as part of a new … Read more

A lot of lip service is being paid to making scientific papers free to access but when it comes to action there is a lot of hypocrisy, according to Robert-Jan Smits, the EU’s outgoing director-general for research, science and innovation. He has recently been appointed the EU’s special envoy on open access, tasked with helping … Read more

Digitalisation has a role to play in the conservation and promotion of modern-day cultural heritage but should enhance real-life experiences, rather than replace them, experts say. The Innovation and Cultural Heritage conference, held in Brussels on 20 March 2018, brought together a diverse range of researchers from the fields of science, technology, archaeology, social sciences … Read more